title: Early nutritional depletion in critically ill children.
abstract: Nutritional status was evaluated in 50 medical admissions to a pediatric ICU. All patients were evaluated within 48 h of admission; none had chronic organ failure or malignancies. Nutritional assessment included weight/50th percentile weight for length, length/50th percentile length for age, triceps skinfold thickness, and midarm muscle circumference. Acute protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) occurred in 16% of all children. Chronic PEM also occurred in 16%. The nutrient stores of fat and somatic protein were deficient in 18 and 20% of all children. Acute PEM and deficient somatic protein stores were more frequent in children less than 2 years (p less than 0.05). These findings indicate that malnutrition and nutrient store deficiencies are common early in the course of critical illnesses in children, especially in those less than 2 years of age. However, the findings do not indicate if the severity of illness was the cause or effect of poor nutritional status.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000367:Age Factors; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000150:complications; D012885:Skinfold Thickness